At the beginning of the 17th century, Vincenzo Scamozzi wrote a treatise "The Idea of Universal Architecture", where, among other things, he touched on the topic of urban planning. This book was read by a 22-year-old prince-archbishop who ruled Salzburg at the time. Impressed by Scamozzi's work, he built many houses, creating an amazingly beautiful sequence of streets and squares in the Austrian city - a public space that people still enjoy today.
This historical example is based on the idea of the importance in architecture of a wide variety of horizontal and vertical dimensions. Such alternation still largely determines the quality of any space, be it housing, a shopping center or a city block. The principle of diversity, described by Scamozzi, existed for hundreds, if not thousands of years, but in modern architecture it is increasingly forgotten: most buildings today are built in the same style and size, endlessly repeating each other.
When Peter Ebner and friends started to conceptualize a residential building in Salzburg, there was already a building on the site - a cultural and historical heritage site of Geshtüthalle. It was built in the 16th century, during the reign of Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raithenau, and over the centuries changed its function several times: it was a smithy, stables, housing, warehouse, was used for military needs. On one of its facades, the original coat of arms of the prince-archbishop is still preserved, and on the ground floor there are Romanesque columns from the Salzburg Cathedral, transported here during the rebuilding of the latter. The historic building was in disrepair for a long time, but, despite this, the local committee for the protection of monuments, residents of the city and representatives of the media reacted with a certain tension to the possible interference of architects in its appearance.
The work on the project, obviously, required delicacy, and the studio of Peter Ebner and friends faced a dilemma: should we keep Geshtüthalle without changing anything in it, or, concentrating on its beauty, try to rethink it? The head of the office, Professor Peter Ebner, notes: “I wanted to consider all the solutions that combine the“old”and the“new”.
As a result, two new floors were built over the historical part of the project so that the outline of the resulting building began to overlap with the outline of the medieval fortress Hohensalzburg, proudly towering over Salzburg. This form was obtained through the use of the principle of diversity in the modern part of the building, as described by Vincenzo Scamozzi in his Idea of Universal Architecture. Architects Peter Ebner and friends add that the interior of the two new floors "wanted to create a semblance of a historic city, with its alternation of squares and lanes, open and intimate spaces."
Getting into the modern part of the building, it is as if you find yourself in a magical labyrinth, where there is an oval room around one corner, a winter garden behind another, and a staircase behind the third that seems to lead to the clouds themselves. Each space here, no matter large or small, can be separated from one another, closed or, on the contrary, combined with others.
When describing residential buildings, they are often characterized as suitable for introverts or, conversely, for lovers of noisy companies. The house, designed by Peter Ebner and friends, thanks to the flexibility of the spaces, it can adapt to any peculiarities of the character of its residents. It is easy to find "your place" in this project, or even to model it yourself. The top two floors are occupied by four apartments, the first tier is occupied by office space.
Thanks to the use of green technologies in the house, it has a low energy consumption, which is about 10% of what is usually used by a similar residential building in Austria. For example, a geothermal heat pump allows you to maintain the water temperature in its outdoor pool at +32 degrees year-round.
The laconic metal facade of the new part of the house gently reflects the surrounding greenery and surrounding buildings. Depending on the time of day and time of year, the play of reflections on it is constantly changing, continuing in the external appearance the concept of flexibility and the principle of diversity inherent in the very essence of the project. Architects Peter Ebner and friends describe this effect as "an iridescent surface of water", adding that "it is also a pleasure to look at." The silvery façade of the two new floors (Larson and Alpolic panels) blends seamlessly with the ivory-colored stucco façade of the Geshtüthalle. The old and the new in the project complement each other in such a way that it seems impossible to imagine one without the other in this work.
For the head of Peter Ebner and friends, Professor Peter Ebner, this residential building became the second construction in his hometown. He admits that “since his very first project here, back in his student days, more than twenty years have passed and, compared to what it was before, Salzburg has become a difficult place to design, mainly due to the lack of professionalism of local construction companies. ". Talking about his experience working on this house, he said: “You never cease to be amazed when you see that people come to all negotiations accompanied by their lawyers, and you begin to think that you are in New York, although in reality you are only in a small provincial town ".
Well, the work of architects with objects of historical heritage can hardly be called simple in any part of the world. It is all the more valuable when the result obtained over the years of constantly overcoming obstacles becomes a pleasant surprise for the city and its new / old architectural landmark. Architects Peter Ebner and friends lovingly call their work "The Secret Treasure" and this definition is more than justified: a residential building, located a few minutes walk from the historic center, has its own small garden, an alley leading to it, and beautiful views. At the same time, it is hidden among the three-storey buildings and is invisible from the roads. The "secret treasure" is revealed only to those who know the way to it.
